News

On Monday, February 16, 2015, students from high schools all over the state converged on Montgomery to compete in the Alabama finals of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competition . Students, teachers, and parents arrived at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to recite and hear poetry. These students, already winners in their own regions, gave moving renditions of poetry from well-known poets such as Langston Hughes, C.S. Lewis, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Jean Valentine. The students also performed their original poems about truth and friendship, personal identity, and tragic life experiences. It was a day filled with laughter, thoughtfulness, and tears, proving to all that Alabama students have the power to speak with voices very much worth hearing. First place went to Nicole Louw, a senior at Holy Spirit Catholic High School in Tuscaloosa and a student of Jonathan Loper. Elizabeth Balch-Crystal of Auburn High School won the original poetry category, sponsored by the Forum. READ MORE…

The University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, along with the journalism department, has named best-selling author Warren St. John winner of the 2015 Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing. St. John, a native of Birmingham, and a graduate of Columbia University, wrote the national bestsellers Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania and Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference. READ MORE…